Use of E-Resources by Life Scientists: A Case Study of Sambalpur University, India

Abstract

Introduction E-resources in collaboration with Internet have become a sign of modern age being an invaluable tool for teaching, learning, and research. The library and information landscape has transformed with the onset of the digital era and today traditional libraries have changed their roles to serve as 'Knowledge Centers' with priority on value added electronic information services. Academic and research institutions are focusing on how best they can facilitate research by canalizing specific information services which compliment as cutting-edge technology. With the advent of globalization in the realm of education, there has been an information explosion. Most of the science and technology, academic institutions as well as R & D Organizations have changed their contemporary outlooks towards the functions, operations and services. The traditional environment has been rapidly changing to an electronic one and the demand for Internet and e-resources among the academic and research community has increased manifold over the years being the most popular source of undertaking research. However, the literature review reveals that, there is a dearth of studies on use of e-resources and internet in context of academics, researchers and students not only in India but also across the globe. The present decade has been dubbed as the information age. While this concept is not a new phenomenon especially when viewed against its historical perspective, the revolution in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), and particularly the internet, is exerting profound effects on information-based services. The proliferation of new technologies opens a number of challenges for teaching, learning and research. Notable among these are those associated with the adoption and institutionalization of these emerging technologies in teaching, learning, and research. As a result, in the last few years, there have been many initiatives to enhance the developed and developing countries capacity to harness this technology in reshaping their educational sectors in ways that are consistent with current knowledge societies. India has a strong research and development base, both in the governmental and private sectors, in science and technology. This has led to an impressive quantity of research publications. But the Indian scientific community has noted with great concern that Indian research findings, especially those reported in Indian journals, are under represented in the global knowledge base. This is of concern not only for India but for other developing nations as well. A global effort is on the way to make scientific information affordable by bypassing the profit-making commercial scientific journal publishers. Internet, therefore, has created the possibility of establishing alternative models for the dissemination of information. The above problems may be addressed by facilitating free access to scientific information in electronic form to users worldwide. In India, many science, technology, and medical journals are now available online for a global audience through the initiatives of government and private non-profit publishers (Kumari, 2008). Use of Internet by research scholars, therefore, is an important area of study in today's information environment. The Internet has now-a-days become an important component in academic institutions as it plays a pivotal role in meeting the information and communication needs of institutions. makes it possible to access a wide range of information, such as up-to-date research reports, from anywhere in the world. It also enables scholars and academic institutions to disseminate information to a wider audience around the globe through having web sites and a way to search them and organize the output (Madhusudhan, 2007). The emergence of the internet and e-resources particularly the World Wide Web, as a new medium of information storage and delivery represents a revolution, which will have a lasting impact on the publishing and information delivery system in the twenty-first century. …

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